


The Disasterous Bed Sharing Schedule

by magikcreature



Category: Dice Disasters (Podcast)
Genre: Fluff, One Shot Collection, Sharing a Bed, Sharing a Room, Snippets, THERE WAS ONLY ONE BED
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-11-18
Updated: 2020-11-20
Packaged: 2021-03-09 20:08:07
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 3,086
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27621835
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/magikcreature/pseuds/magikcreature
Summary: When you're traveling through a fantasy world, you're going to have to make some compromises.Each chapter stands on its own, so feel free to jump around. First character of the title is the POV character. :)
Comments: 6
Kudos: 2





	1. The Schedule

Zan slammed her hand down on the tavern's rickety table. "I am NOT sharing with Max again," she said.

"Hey!" said Cody, as his griffin wings toppled off his plate. Jasmin reached over with a napkin, scooping away the fallen wings before he could eat them off the dirty table.

Max's beer had sloshed over when Zan hit the table, and he paused from licking it off his fingers to look up at her. "What did I do?" he asked, his eyes wide.

"He kicks!" shouted Zan, poking Max again. "He kicks in his sleep! I'm tired of him practicing his soccer moves on my ass!" A few of the sleepy-eyed patrons of the tavern were looking their way, and Erica pulled Zan down onto the bench, shushing her. This was the third tavern they had stopped at tonight, and the only one with any spare rooms at all. They'd paid for the last four beds, which meant another night of someone having to double up.

"Keep it down," said Erica, glancing over her shoulder. "We stand out enough as it is."

Jasmin picked up another napkin and began wiping down Max's hands. "I can share again, I don't mind," said Jasmin. She finished wiping up the spilled beer and rose from the bench. "I'll get you more wings, Cody."

"Thanks Jasmin!" Cody called after her. He was already covered in sauce again.

"Great," said Zan. "Can you grab me another mug while you're up there?" She waved her almost empty beer glass in the air, and Jasmin nodded. 

Erica's mouth drew into a line. She watched Jasmin barely suppress a yawn on her walk over to the bar. Jasmin had shared with someone every night that week, and her lack of sleep was beginning to show.

When Jasmin returned a few minutes later, Erica cleared her throat. "Okay. Apparently the tourism industry is booming around here, and so we're going to have to get used to sharing beds. But," she pointed at Jasmin, "We can't just make Jasmin share every night. That isn't fair. We need to come up with a system."

"That's a great idea," said Max. "Like a training schedule."

"Ugh, fine," said Zan. She took her new mug of dark beer from Jasmin, and glowered into it. "I can deal with it as long as I know what's coming."

"Cody, can I have a piece of notebook paper?" Erica took the paper from Cody. She spread it out on the table. With a green colored pencil, she drew out at schedule, rotating pairings through their party. When she was done, she gave it back to Cody and he carefully slid it into the clear plastic cover of his binder.

"There," she said. "Let's see how that goes."


	2. Erica and Cody

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Attempt #1: Erica and Cody

Erica figured it would be easier to get her rotation system off the ground if she went first, and that Cody wouldn't mind.

She was right.

The relief in Zan's eyes when she saw she wasn't first was palpable. As Erica and Cody walked past Max's room they could hear his snores vibrating through the solid wood door. 

Jasmin's door was open. Cody ducked his head in to say goodnight, but Jasmin was already asleep, one skinny arm draped off the side of the bed. Cody tiptoed inside and carefully pulled the blanket up over her. Jasmin didn't stir as he landed on every creaky floorboard. He tiptoed back out of the room and closed the door.

"Where's our room?" Cody asked when he was back in the hallway. Erica pointed to the next door, with its strange, swirly symbol she knew meant 32.

Cody went inside, and Erica went down the hall to the shared bathrooms to change. When she came back, Cody was tucked into bed with Wotter curled up on his chest. She chittered as he spoke to her, too quiet for Erica to make out what he was saying. When Erica laid down next to him, he scooted over a little, giving her plenty of room.

"Lights out?" she asked. Cody smiled, and summoned Helpo, his floating spectral mage hand, to turn off the lantern.

Erica looked up and watched the soft ribbons of light cast by Wotter's glowing fur shimmer across the ceiling. She thought about the pool at her cousin Paige's house, and how they would go swimming on summer nights and then lay on the deck afterwards, talking about nothing, trying to make each other laugh. She sighed and rolled over, turning her back to Wotter.

"Hey, Erica?" whispered Cody.

"What's up?"

She waited as Cody yawned, his voice sleepy. "I love you"

Erica smiled. "I love you too, buddy."


	3. Max and Zan

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Attempt #2: Max and Zan

"All right. Ground rules." Zan plopped the pile of extra pillows she was carrying down on the bed. This inn might not have any more beds, but Zan sure as hell was using every pillow they had. "This, is my side. That, is your side. This is the pillow wall." Max stood awkwardly in the corner as Zan constructed a fluffy barrier along the center line of the bed, punching the pillows into submission.

"Got it," he said. Max looked out the window. The first thing Zan had done when they'd gotten into their room was throw open the window and the shutters, letting the cool night air flood inside. He wasn't complaining – he loved a cold bedroom as much as the next hot-blooded human – but there was something... off, about this town. He scratched at the back of his neck, and tried to peer out into the darkness, not knowing what he was looking for.

Something soft smacked him in the side of the head, jerking him back to reality. Max caught the pillow before it hit the ground, and looked over to where Zan was sitting in bed. She'd already gotten changed, and was firmly barricaded on her side of the fort. She was also glaring at him.

Max gulped. "Uh, sorry," he said. "Did you say something?"

Zan rolled her eyes and flopped back onto the bed. "I said, I'm going to sleep." She rolled over, punching her pillow into shape. "If you're going to stand there all night, at least wake me up if there's something to fight, okay?"

Max chuckled, and shook his head. He got changed quickly, and then slipped into his side of the bed, careful not to disturb the downy mountain range.

Bunking with Zan was surprisingly easy..

People always thought that being six feet tall and built like a fridge was a blessing. He didn't have to work hard at all to have people make space for him. But at some point he'd realized that him getting more space meant people giving up their space for him, and that made him sad. He didn't want to take space away from people. He tried to watch out for it, but he knew he wasn't seeing everything. It was so easy to take his space for granted. 

Zan was direct. He knew she would tell him what she was thinking, and that it would be the honest, unfiltered truth. She would push him out of the way if he was taking up too much space. And he was thankful for that.

Max stole another glance at the open window.

It was quiet. He could hear Zan's breathing, slow and even. He laid there, watching the darkness, straining to hear any other sounds. He shivered, and pulled his blanket tighter. The sound of the fabric moving cut through the silence and Max froze. But Zan's breathing was still slow and even.

It was silent. No creaks, no distant muffled conversations, no drone of insects. Max sat up. The bed shifted as he moved, and he heard Zan grunt, and flail out one of her arms. Slowly, he eased himself off the bed, and crept over to the window, rubbing his bare arms to warm them against the chill.

Beyond the tavern were fields of long grass, but the night was overcast and without the light of the moons Max couldn't make out a single shape in the darkness. They were on the second floor, but given what they'd seen in this world, that didn't reassure him that they were safe.

Max tapped his wristbands together, and the hologram screen appeared, bathing the room in pale blue light. He scrolled through his SPEL menu, and tapped the Alarm spell. A thread of pink and yellow light appeared in his fingers, and he took hold of it, guiding it around the window frame. As he completed the loop, the magical thread flared once, and then vanished. 

He didn't understand how it worked, but Max could feel the barrier in his mind. It felt safer. He took a deep breath, and made his way back to bed.


	4. Jasmin, Max, and Cody

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Attempt #3: Jasmin, Max, and Cody

Two beds between five people was the worst luck they'd gotten so far. But the rain outside was cold and heavy, and Jasmin could feel how tired everyone was. So she pressed her coins into the hand of the bartender, and accepted the two keys he offered.

When she made it back to her party, they were crowded around the roaring fireplace of the common room, drenched and cranky. Max was laying down on the warm stones in front of the hearth. Zan had stripped out of her armor, and stood dangerously close to the flames in just her sports bra. Jasmin looked away.

Erica looked up from wringing water out of her braid, and raised her eyebrows at Jasmin. "Any luck?" she asked.

Jasmin held up the two keys, and grimaced. Zan groaned. Cody held up his binder, safe and dry thanks to the waterproofing charm he'd bought from Trinket. Erica's eyes darted back and forth as she scanned the schedule. 

"Looks like Max and Jasmin were next, and then me and Zan." She looked back up at Cody. "You're the tie-breaker, bud. Who do you wanna bunk with?" 

Cody glanced at Zan, who was wreathed in fire. At some point she'd activated her Absorb Elements spell, and had plunged her whole face into the flames. She glared back at all of them, and Cody took a small step closer to Jasmin.

\---

They were lucky. The beds here were long and wide – clearly built to accommodate the larger people of the region. They'd passed a lot more goliaths and orcs since they'd gotten out to the plains.

Max and Cody went down to the bathrooms to change, while Jasmin stayed in their room. She looked up to see them come bareling back down the hallway at full speed, laughing and barely dodging the other patrons of the inn as they raced back to the room.

"I won!" said Cody. He lifted his skinny arms in triumph, and beamed up at Jasmin. She smoothed down his blond hair, and smiled back at him.

"Not fair," said Max, also grinning. "You got Wotter to trip me!" Wotter chittered at him, putting her front paws on his foot. Max scooped Wotter up from the floor and deposited her in Cody's arms. He scratched Wotter behind the ears, clearly proud of her and Cody for working together.

The three of them got into the oversized bed as Cody rattled off his ideas for new Codymon cards. Jasmin turned down the lantern, and reached a hand out to smooth down Cody's hair again. "I think a giraffe sounds like the perfect Codymon," she said. But Cody was already asleep. Jasmin glanced over his sleeping form, and smiled at Max. "Good night, Max."

"G'night," he said.

Jasmin laid down, and closed her eyes.

\---

Jasmin woke with a start. Her hands were stretched towards the ceiling, and something was gripping her wrist. She blinked, frozen, willing her eyes to adjust to the darkness. Slowly the room came into focus.

It was a hand.

Jasmin looked over, and Max let go of her wrist. He pulled his arm back to his side of the bed, careful not to disturb Cody, who was still fast asleep between them. Jasmin pulled her outstretched arms back to her chest. 

"Sorry," Max whispered. His eyebrows were pulled together. "You were talking in your sleep, and then you activated your SPELbands, and I..." he trailed off.

"Thank you," Jasmin croaked. Her throat felt raw, like she'd spent the past few hours screaming. Max nodded, and the muscles in his neck relaxed a little. He propped his head up on his arm, and kept looking at her, concern written all over his face.

Cody let out a little snore, breaking the silence. Jasmin smiled and Max let out a little chuckle, which he quickly smothered.

"Have you slept?" asked Jasmin.

Max looked at her, and shook his head. "I was..." he let out a breath, "I was keeping watch. I know it's silly, since we're inside, I just worry that... you know..."

"No, I get it," said Jasmin. She looked down at Cody. Wotter was curled up in his arms, and he had his cheek pressed to her fur.

They laid there for a long while, the silence between them comfortable, and their shared worry supported by them both, at least for now.


	5. Zan and Jasmin

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Attempt #4: Zan and Jasmin

"This is ridiculous," Zan groaned. She looked at the bed again, willing it to grow just a little bit wider.

"I– I'm sorry–" Jasmin said.

Zan shook her head, and sighed. "It's not your fault. I'm gonna go get changed." She scooped an extra large tunic out of her pack, and left the balcony. She was glad she didn't have to sleep inside. She was less glad that she had to figure out how to sleep next to Jasmin.

The bed itself looked fine. It was built into a recession in the outer wall of the inn, with a soft looking mattress and a canopy to block the rain and the sun. It was, honestly, Zan's ideal bed.

Zan locked the bathroom door behind her, and leaned against against it. The issue was that she knew she made Jasmin uncomfortable. It's not like that was new – lots of straight girls recoiled from her touch, or got super awkward when they had to change in the same room as her. And as problematic as that could be, it was still their choice, and a choice Zan respected. If someone didn't want her to touch them, then she wouldn't. No questions asked.

She just wished Jasmin would come out and say it, so they didn't have to sleep next to each other.

Zan shrugged out of her clothes and into her makeshift pajamas. She took her time washing her face, her hair, even scrubbing the dirt from beneath her nails. When it felt like she couldn't procrastinate any longer, she took a deep breath, and walked back to their balcony room.

Jasmin was standing at the railing, looking out at their surroundings. It was late, but there was still a sea of lights flickering across the city, a mirror of the sea of stars above them. Jasmin's skirt and her hair were billowing in the wind, and Zan stood there for a long moment. Finally, she worked up the courage to join her at the railing.

"Hey," said Zan. Jasmin jumped, flinching away, leaving a foot of room between them. "Whoa, jeez, sorry–" said Zan, holding up her hands.

"No– I'm sorry–"

"No, I shouldn't have snuck up on you, that's on me."

The two of them stood there in silence. Jasmin's face was hidden behind a curtain of hair. Zan pressed the palms of her hands into her eyes until she saw just as many stars as when they were open.

"Fuck," she muttered. "Jasmin, I– I don't know how to say this, so I'm just gonna say it. I get that you're uncomfortable around me, and that's okay." 

Jasmin's head snapped up, and she started to interrupt, but Zan held up her hands. "It's really okay. I don't think it's fair to make you sleep next to me if I make you uncomfortable, and I don't think anyone will disagree with that. I can talk to Erica about it, and we can, I dunno, switch things around. It will be fine." 

Zan could feel the awkwardness spilling out of her, and she looked down at her feet, at the sky – anywhere but Jasmin.

Jasmin's voice was quiet when she finally responded. "You don't... make me uncomfortable, Zan. I mean, you kind of do – but not because –" Jasmin let out a long, strained whimper and covered her face with both her hands. "I like being near you," she muttered, "I'm just... scared of liking it."

Zan felt her cheeks grow warm. Her brain did backflips and sommersaults and she tried to put together a coherent reply. "Oh," she said.

The wind cut across the balcony and Zan shivered. "Do you, uh... want.... shit," she said. "Is there anything I can do to like," Zan gestured with her hands, trying to will her words into making sense, into being even the slightest bit comforting or helpful. "To, like, make you feel more... safe?"

Jasmin peeked out from behind from her hands, only making eye contact with Zan for a millisecond before ducking her head. "There's something that might help," she whispered. Jasmin tapped her SPELbands together, and scrolled through her menu. With one delicate finger, she tapped a button, and vanished.

Zan blinked. "What–"

A soft weight pressed into her foot, and she looked down. Teacup, the long-haired cat with clover on its back was standing on her foot, looking up at her with glowing purple eyes.

Zan's heart melted. She crouched down, extending a hand towards the goblin. She paused before making contact, remembering that this was Jasmin, and asked, "Can I touch you?"

In response, Jasmin butted her head against Zan's outstretched palm. The sound of her purring rumbled against Zan's hand as she pet her, scratching her gently behind the ears and under the chin. Zan shivered again, and the goblin blinked up at her, and then turned and jumped onto the bed. Slowly, Zan followed. She pulled back the thick covers and slid into the bed, leaving as much room for Jasmin as she could. The cat curled up next to her, rubbing the top of her head against Zan's shoulder.

They fell asleep, like that. Zan's palm gently resting on Jasmin's rumbling feline form. An hour later, the goblin vanished, and Jasmin was back in her human form, but neither of them woke, or cared.


End file.
